Door frame

ABSTRACT

A door frame with a lining having a step-shaped portion on each side, which includes two vertical cover parts separated from each other by the lining and extending at a substantially right angle thereto while having one side portion in engagement with the respective adjacent outermost end face section of the step-shaped portions. Each of the two vertical cover parts has a recess at the respective adjacent step-shaped portion of the lining. This recess has arranged therein a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of this recess while screws detachably hold the dummy strip in the recess. The dummy strip is covered up toward the outside by cover means at least approximately flush with the adjacent surface of the respective adjacent step.

' United States Patent Biirgers Dec. 16, 1975 DOOR FRAME 588,641 5/1947 United Kingdom 49/382 Inventor: g s i rg s 1,222,854 l/196O France 49/504 Erkelenz Gerderath Germany Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey [73] Assignee: Europatent S.A., Luxemburg Attorney, Agent, or FirmWalter Becker 22 Filedz Oct. 1, 1973 Appl. No.: 402,583

Finland 49/501 [57 ABSTRACT A door frame with a lining having a step-shaped portion on each side, which includes two vertical cover parts separated from each other by the lining and extending at a substantially right angle thereto while having one side portion in engagement with the respective adjacent outermost end face section of the step-shaped portions. Each of the two vertical cover parts has a recess at the respective adjacent stepshaped portion of the lining. This recess has arranged therein a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of this recess while screws detachablyhold the dummy strip in the recess. The dummy strip is covered up toward the outside by cover means at least approximately flush with the adjacent surface of the respective adjacent step.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures FIG.3

V. I i l x a l v N DOOR FRAME The present invention relates to a door frame with a lining and'a rabbet or channel cover located at a right angle with regard to one edge of the lining for receiving a closing metal plate'for a door lock.

Door frames of wood, plywood plates or similar materials are, in order to be able to manufacture them economically, prefabricated in mass production as socalled insertable frames either of natural wood or in finish prevarnished design so that at the building lot it is substantially necessary only to insert the finished insertable frame into the'wall opening and to connect the frame to the wall. To this end, it was heretofore customary in the factory also to provide one of the two vertical parts of the rabbet cover with a prefabricated recess upon which 'is placed a closure metal plate and into which, for purposes of cooperation with the closure plate, the latch and the bolt of a door lock may extend. Furthermore, it was also customary in the factory to bore the holes through the oppositely located other vertical part of the rabbet cover into the vertical lining part, said bores serving for receiving the connecting pins of so-called drill-in bands (Einbohrbander) which nowadays serve as hinges between the door frame proper and the suspended door proper. In view of this prefabrication of the recess for the closing plate and also due to the prefabrication of the bore holes for drill-in bands, with heretofore known door frames it is determined whether the frame is usable for a door opening toward the left or for a door opening toward the right. Particularly with door frames of natural wood or finish prevarnished frames, the opening direction of the door cannot be changed at the building lot. This means that the order for the door frames required for a building and the assembly of such door frames was based on a precise pre-determination of the opening direction of each individual door and the respectively required number of door frames, and'that, above all, the door manufacturer or wholesale dealer had to keep in stock both' designs of the door frame.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a door frame of the above-mentioned general type which canselectively be used for opening toward the left or for opening toward the right and can be prefabricated in mass production in an economical manner and furthermore can be delivered as finished door frame to the building lot where it can then be determined to which side the door should open, so that the heretofore necessary keeping in stock of door frames for doors opening toward the left and opening toward the right will be reduced by 50%.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification, in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 represents a horizontal section through vertical structural elements of the frame, according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a detail'of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section through vertical structural elements of the frame, said section being located at a different level from the level of the section of FIG. 1.

The door frame according to the present invention is characterized primarily in that both vertical parts of the rabbet cover of the door frame are provided with a recess determined for the installation of a closing plate and open toward the rabbet side of the covering parts, a dummy being detachably inserted and connected in the recess while filling said recess. Furthermore, the rabbet covering parts are on their rabbet side provided with a cover which covers up the dummy and forms the surface of the rabbet sides.

According to a further development of the invention, the door frame may advantageously be so designed that both vertical parts of the lining and of the rabbet cover are provided with bores for receiving drill-in bands which form the hinges between the door frame and the door proper while the bores in the rabbet covering parts are pre-bored as blind holes from the rear side of said rabbet covering parts.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the door frame comprises a lining of which FIGS. 1 and 4 show the vertical lining parts 1 and 2 of a rabbet cover of which in FIG. 1 the two vertical rabbet cover parts 3 and 4 are shown. The door frame furthermore comprises a non-illustrated ornamental cover located on that side of the lining which is opposite the rabbet cover. At that area where customarily a closure plate is mounted, the two vertical rabbet cover parts 3 and 4 are provided with a prefabricated and prepared recess 5 for the installation of a closure plate, said recess 5 being open toward the rabbet side 6 of the covering parts. Inserted into the recess 5 is a dummy 7 of wood or any other suitable material which fills in the recess and which is detachably connected in the recess 5. Advantageously, the dummy 7 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) has at the same area as the customary closing plates, connecting bores 8 for connecting screws 9 so that when employing identical connecting screws and identical bores in the cover parts, also a closure plate could be connected upon the recess 5. After insertion of the dummy 7 into the recesses 5, the rabbet cover parts 3 and 4 are on their rabbet side 6 provided with a cover 10 which forms the finished surface of the rabbet sides, said cover 10 covering up the dummy 7 so that it cannot be seen from the outside. The cover 10 may be formed by a strip of synthetic material or by a strip of wood veneer. The recesses 5 are worked out of the material of the cover parts 3 and 4 in such a way that at the front side 11 of the cover parts there remains standing a thin wall which, for instance, with veneered covering parts may be formed primarily by the thin veneer itself. Therefore, on both vertical frame cover parts, neither at the front part 11, nor on the rabbet side 10 are there visible the prepared and prefabricated recesses for selective left-hand or right-hand installation of a closure plate. With that rabbet covering part on which the closure plate is to be mounted, it is merely necessary to cut out that part of the cover 10 which covers up the dummy 7 on the left side 6 of the cover part, and also to cut out the thin wall which overlaps the dummy 7 on the front part 11. This cutting out may be effected by a knife guided along the gap between the dummy and the cover part. After the screws 9 have been removed, the dummy 7 can be removed from the recess 5. With the other rabbet covering part, the recess remains filled by the non-visible dummy in such a way that the recess is protected against a pressing in from the rabbet side 6 and also from the front side 11.

Both vertical lining parts 1 and 2 as well as two vertical rabbet covering parts 3 and 4 are, in conformity with FIG. 4, provided with prepared bores 12 which selectively can be used on the left-hand or right-hand side of the door frame for receiving drill-in bands which form the hinge connection of the frame with a door proper. The bores of the rabbet covering parts are from the back side drilled as blind holes so that the prepared bores do not pass through the front sides 11 of the rabbet covering parts but that a layer of material will remain which may be relatively thin. Consequently, also the bores prepared for the installation of one-bore bands are totally hidden toward the outside. At the building lot it is merely necessary with that rabbet covering part on which the one-bore bands have to be arranged, to drill through the above mentioned thin layer of a material, for instance, by means of a drill templet which requires considerably less assembly time than is necessary for a complete drilling of the entire bore 12.

As will be evident from the above, the present invention permits to get by with a single standard design of the frame which will be suitable for a door opening toward the left as well as for a door opening toward the right. Moreover, only this one standard design has to be stocked, while the recesses and bores located on both sides for the installation of a closing plate and advantageously also for the installation of drill-in bands will be completely hidden toward the outside. This is very important for finished prevamished frames or frames of natural wood, while by a few fast and simple manual operations the said recesses and bores can be exposed for the installation of a closure plate or drill-in bands.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to the particular showing in the drawing, but also comprises any modifications witthin the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door frame with a lining having a step-shaped portion on each side, which includes: two vertical cover parts separated from each other by said lining and extending at a substantially right angle thereto while having one side portion in engagement with the respective adjacent outermost end face section of said stepshaped portions, each of said two vertical cover parts having a recess at the respective adjacent step-shaped portion, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate with holes therethrough for connecting screws, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said closing plate and detachably inserted into said recess, screw means detachably holding said dummy strip in said recess, and covering means covering up said dummy strip toward the outside and being at least approximately flush with the adjacent surface of the respective adjacent step, said cover parts having holes therein threadedly engaged by said screw means, the axes of said holes corresponding to the axes of the holes in the closing plate, said two vertical cover parts and the respective adjacent stepshaped portions of said lining being provided with aligned blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said lining and said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts.

2. A door frame on both sides comprising in combination two vertical lining members, one side edge of each of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two cover parts extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and each having one end face adjacent the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having in its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate, a dummy strip respectively corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of each said recess and detachably inserted into said recess so that said recess is filled by said dummy strip which is removable therefrom, said cover part having its outer surface continuous to cover said recess and said dummy strip, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip, said coating means of said end face being flush with said cutout step in said lining member, said coating means and the outer surface of each of said cover parts concealing said dummy strip so that the outer surface of said cover part is a continuous, uninterrupted surface.

3. A door frame comprising two vertical lining members, one side edge of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two vertical cover parts, extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and having one end face adjacent to and aligned with the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having at its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said recess and detachably inserted into said recess, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip in an invisible manner toward the outside, said two vertical cover parts being provided with blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts.

4. A door frame comprising two vertical lining members, one side edge of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two vertical cover parts, extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and having one end face adjacent to and aligned with the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having at its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate with connecting holes for screw means, said recess being provided with holes, the axes of said holes corresponding to the axes of said connecting holes in said closing plate, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said recess and detachably inserted into said recess and provided with means for engagement into said holes of said recess and for detachably holding said dummy strip in said recess, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip in an invisible manner toward the outside, said two vertical cover parts being provided with blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts. 

1. A door frame with a lining having a step-shaped portion on each side, which includes: two vertical cover parts separated from each other by said lining and extending at a substantially right angle thereto while having one side portion in engagement with the respective adjacent outermost end face section of said step-shaped portions, each of said two vertical cover parts having a recess at the respective adjacent step-shaped portion, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate with holes therethrough for connecting screws, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said closing plate and detachably inserted into said recess, screw means detachably holding said dummy strip in said recess, and covering means covering up said dummy strip toward the outside and being at least approximately flush with the adjacent surface of the respective adjacent step, said cover parts having holes therein threadedly engaged by said screw means, the axes of said holes corresponding to the axes of the holes in the closing plate, said two vertical cover parts and the respective adjacent step-shaped portions of said lining being provided with aligned blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said lining and said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts.
 2. A door frame on both sides comprising in combination two vertical lining members, one side edge of each of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two cover parts extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and each having one end face adjacent the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having in its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate, a dummy strip respectively corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of each said recess and detachably inserted into saiD recess so that said recess is filled by said dummy strip which is removable therefrom, said cover part having its outer surface continuous to cover said recess and said dummy strip, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip, said coating means of said end face being flush with said cutout step in said lining member, said coating means and the outer surface of each of said cover parts concealing said dummy strip so that the outer surface of said cover part is a continuous, uninterrupted surface.
 3. A door frame comprising two vertical lining members, one side edge of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two vertical cover parts, extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and having one end face adjacent to and aligned with the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having at its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said recess and detachably inserted into said recess, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip in an invisible manner toward the outside, said two vertical cover parts being provided with blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts.
 4. A door frame comprising two vertical lining members, one side edge of the lining members having a cutout step to form a door abutment, and two vertical cover parts, extending at a substantially right angle to said lining members and having one end face adjacent to and aligned with the cutout step of the respective lining members, each of said two vertical cover parts having at its respective end face a recess, said recess being adapted to receive a closing plate with connecting holes for screw means, said recess being provided with holes, the axes of said holes corresponding to the axes of said connecting holes in said closing plate, a dummy strip corresponding in its dimensions substantially to the dimensions of said recess and detachably inserted into said recess and provided with means for engagement into said holes of said recess and for detachably holding said dummy strip in said recess, and coating means forming the finished surface layer of said end face of said cover parts and covering up said dummy strip in an invisible manner toward the outside, said two vertical cover parts being provided with blind holes for receiving hinge bolts, said blind holes being closed toward the outside of said vertical cover parts prior to receiving hinge bolts. 